Boxing Day, a national public holiday in Australia and New Zealand, is celebrated yearly on December 26, a day after Christmas Day.{/p}
No, it has nothing to do with two gloved men sparring on a canvas square ringed by ropes and trying to knock each other out.
In Australia, Boxing Day is also the day the peril-fraught Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race begins.
For many, in places where shops open on this public holiday, it is also the start of the post-Christmas bargain shopping season.
Boxing Day got its name from an old tradition when employers boxed gifts for their workers on the day after Christmas.
Australia's national public holidays:
- New Year's Day - January 1
- Australia Day - January 26
- Good Friday, Easter Saturday, Easter Sunday, Easter Monday
- Anzac Day - April 25]/li]
- Queen's Birthday - second Monday in June except in Western Australia where it is marked in late September or early October
- Christmas Day - December 25
- Boxing Day - December 26
New Zealand's national public holidays:
- New Year's Day and the next day - January 1 and 2
- Waitangi Day - February 6
- Good Friday/Easter Monday
- Anzac Day - April 25
- Queen's Birthday - first Monday in June
- Labor Day - fourth Monday in October
- Christmas Day - December 25
- Boxing Day - December 26
As well as the national holidays, there are also regional and local holidays in various parts of Australia and New Zealand, such as Melbourne Cup Day in Melbourne on the day the Melbourne Cup is run.
